Oil-tank protector.



T. JONES.

OlLTANK PRCVTECTOR. APPLICATIQN FILED lwmza, ms.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

TOLBERT JONES, 0i DRUMRIGHT, O KLAHOMA, ASSIG-NOR 0F ONIiI-THIRD T0 WILLIAM H. METZ, OF DRUMRIGHT, OKLAHOMA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 28, 1915. Serial No. 47,818.

1 0 a "whom it may concern Beit known that I, Tonnnn'r JoNEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Drumright, in the'county of Creek and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oil-Tank Protectors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to means for pre venting oil tanks from catching on fire due to lightning and particularly to a device which will permit the flow' of gas from the oil tank but which will prevent this gas, when ignited, from passing back into the oil tank to thereby ignite the gas within the tank and thus cause an explosion.

It has been found by experience that it is' the column of inflammable vapor arising from the oil tank which is liable to be ignited by a flash of lightning and then the ignition of the vapor runs back into the tank, thus causing an explosion of the gas within the tank itself.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide means whereby the gas constantly accumulating within the tank may be allowed to pass off into the air and in fact mix with the air so as to cause the rising of the gas and provide means for preventing backward flow of this gas, in case it should become ignited and further to provide means whereby the amount'of gas passing through the tank may be regulated and whereby in case a column of gas above the protector and exterior thereof becomes ignited, the vent opening of the tank may be closed.'

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is an elevation of an oil tank equipped with my improved protector, the protector being in vertical section; and Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to these drawings, 2 designates an ordinary oil tank of any'usual form and having the roof 3L This roof at its apex is formed with the vent pipe 4 which, at its upper end is closed by a valve 5, shown as a hinged valve but not necessarily of this construction. This valve is normally held open to any predetermined extent, by a cord 6, or other flexible connection.

Mounted upon the roof 3, and disposed in concentric relation to the vent pipe 4, is the flue .7, which is preferably made of nonconductive material. This line, adjacent its base, is outwardlyand downwardly flared, as at 8 and this downwardly and outwardly flared portion of the flue is supported in spaced relation to the roof. Any suitable means may be used for this purpose, but I preferably use a plurality of radially arranged channel irons 9, riveted or otherwise attached to the roof. If the flue is not of non-conducting material, then it should be insulated from these channel irons; The base of the flueis riveted to these'channel irons and these are riveted to the roof of the oil tank. Inasmuch as the flue 7 is of larger diameter than the vent pipe 4 and is dis-- posed in concentric relation thereto, it will be seen that air will pass under the base 8 of the flue and upward through the flue, around the vent pipe, creating an upward draft which will draw the air from the vent pipe and from the upper end of the tank. Mounted upon the upper end of the flue is a cap 10, which is preferably made of wire gauze of finely reticulated or foraminous material and which is securely mounted upon the upper end of the flue. This wire gauze performs the function of preventing ignited gases exterior of the flue from passing back into the flue and thus into the body of the tank. The valve cord 6 passes into the flue 7 in any suitable manner and is Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

supported by means of a pulley 11, so that a pull upon the cord will cause the opening of the valve 5. This valve being moved to its closed position either through the weight of the valve or in any other suitable manner. By means of the cord 6 there-opening of the valve may be readily adjusted "or the valve released and closed entirely. I

In case a column of gas arising from the flue is ignited in the air by a flash of lightning, the fire will flash back to the gauze cap, following the column of gas, but it cannot pass into the interior of the cap and the gas will simply burn above and around the ca without igniting the gas in the interior o the flue or in the vent pipe. Furthermore the ignition of the gas above and around the cap will cause an upward flow of gas which will tend to draw in more air beneath the hood or base 8 and around the vent pipe, thus keeping thevent pipe relatively cool. Under normal circumstances,

hovvever, it is the air which, passing be-,

neath the hood and upward around the vent, will tend to create a certain amount of suction in the flue which will draw oli the relatively heavj hydro-carbon vapor and cause it to move upward steadily.

While I have illustrated the details of construction, I wish it understood that the device may he modified in many Ways without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described this invention,

what I claim isz-- The combination with a tank for containing inflammable fluids, of a vent, pipe extending upward from the tank, a valve pivotally mounted upon the end of the vent pipe and adapted toclose the upper end thereof, means for holding the valve open including a flexible connection pivotally connected to the valve and when released perinitting the valve to drop upon the upper end of the vent pipe and close it, a flue surrounding the vent pipe and in spaced relation thereto and having an air inlet opening at the bottom to pern'iit the inlet of air at the base of the fine, a foraniinous cap disposed at the upper end of the flue, the flexible connection of the valve passing out through the side wall of the flue.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

TOLBERT JONES. \Vitnesses T. A. HULL,

BART Fos'rnu. 

